A Friend's Darkest Hour
by Imagination Gamer
Summary: The youngest Dark Sage in history, Benjamin David Arthur Darkens, was heading home to rest after a few rough days in his observatory. But, his past comes back to haunt him when a young girl he once unknowingly experimented on when he worked for the Baron is dying because of a creature he strived to find. Rated for language, violence, and slight gore.
1. The Youngest and Strangest Dark Sage

Imagination Gamer:_ Hello, long time reader, first time story submitter. This used to be written in script format and it was my Creative Writing project which, as usual, earned me an "A". Now, I decided to put it in story format, put my deleted ideas that I've taken out to shorten the story in it, and submit it here for all to see. This is the first time I try to let out my writing prowess in public. So, please go easy on the flames. Polite constructive criticism is accepted though._

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Jak and Daxter universe, Eco elements, Haven City, or anything related to the game or whatever movie, book, or show I refer to except the things that are not in the original games, shows, or books that I came up with for the story! So, _please _don't sue! I'm poor!**

_**Character Descriptions**_

* * *

This kid was slightly tall for his age with tan skin even though he barely sees the sun through the smog of South Town. He had large, cerulean, expressive eyes that often seemed as if they burned like the sun. The boy had brownish black hair that is short and well-groomed. His face looks a lot like a certain warrior combined with his father's bodily features, but the features weren't as prominent because of his young age. The kid had slightly corded arms and legs from exercising and taking defensive classes in case someone tries to kill him. But, he was quite thin even though he eats properly unlike most of the citizens around here. His hands were a size larger than average with long, thin fingers that scarcely twitched. The most noticeable part of the child was the fact that his ears may be pointed like a regular Elfan, but they were half the size they should be at his age. He explained to his old colleagues more times than he'd like to admit that it was a birth defect that he had ever since he was born.

The only thing that made this kid seem like he had a career is that he was wearing a recently washed, ghost white lab coat that is a size too big for him due to his small stature. He wore dark purple surgeon gloves that go up to his elbows and they looked well polished and brand new. He wore trousers that are midnight black and fit like they were made for him. The boy wore Oxford leather boots that date back to the 1800's, not from his world, and fit like they were designed for him. He also wore white, clean socks that go up past his shins and are obviously too large for him. Underneath that lab coat was an onyx shirt that had gold letters that read in bold, "Wake up and smell the coffee!" The shirt also had a golden, steaming coffee mug sewn into it. He wore this shirt because it was National Coffee Day in Haven City.

* * *

Close behind the lad was a 6 foot tall, young man in his twenties. He was following the kid to the lab looking a bit timid like he was gonna face his worst nightmare. His skin was almost as pale as a Dark Sage due to doing most of the dirty work. The man's eyes were large, forest green eyes that were dulled from fright and had subtle signs that this man was exposed to Dark Eco. The guys hair was a very light, golden-yellow that was snowy white at the roots due to Dark Eco exposure and it was messy like he forgot to brush for several weeks. His face looks like Daxter's face when he was human. Except the guy's face was much older, no freckles, no buck teeth, his frame is more of an oval shape, and his face was covered with old scratches. The young man was so much thinner than the child he's following that it was scary. Almost every bone in his body is showing through his skin that lacked fat and muscle. He even had arms that are like twigs, legs that are like sticks, and ribs that you could play like a xylophone due to not eating properly because of the Baron. It's because that he's not a rebel like the kid is. His hands were bony with long, thin fingers that twitched like crazy. He had long, pointed, healthy ears in the doctor's terms because he was an Elfan.

He looks like that he works for and not with the kid because his lab coat was torn badly and covered with blood that doesn't belong to him or to a regular animal. His white surgeon gloves are torn at the fingers and covered in blotches of Dark Eco and blood. His baggy, saggy, brown pants were torn up with scabbed scratches on his legs that are too big to be from a regular animal. He wore old, brown loafers that are too big for him and had a hole in the right sole. He wore brown, old, dirty socks that go up to his ankles, were too saggy to fit him, and were full of holes. Under that horrid lab coat is an old, powder blue, torn up shirt that had faded, black letters that read in bold, "All stressed out and nowhere to hide!" The kid had to remind him that it was National Coffee Day.

* * *

_**The Youngest and Strangest Dark Sage**_

The events took place in an overly fortified city that is unfittingly known as Haven City. On the east side of the city there is an Industrial Section that is mostly metal and littered with many rundown buildings. But, there are a few buildings that looked inviting enough. One of these select few is a large, imposing, pearl white, dome-shaped observatory that looked like a prestigious university. The same kid in the description was walking towards it while sipping his free cup of vanilla coffee in a medium cup.

Close behind him is the same cowardly man in the description who was practically wolfing down his large black coffee because he was really stressed out. It was making the child feel self-conscience because this savage chugging was making people gawk and younger ones gossip.

"Randall." the kid told the young man in a tone that sounded serious, introverted, and intelligent. But, his voice sounded like your typical 12-year-old caucasian boy. Also, he had a slight lisp when he's upset or whispering.

"Don't drink you coffee like that. People are staring." The boy sipped his coffee as he told him that.

"I can't help it!" Randall stammered in a tone that sounded nervous, impulsive, and anxious. But, seemed to have bouts of bravery when he wants to speak his mind.

"I have to stock in those monsters again! Why won't you do it, Benny? You're the Dark Sage of this place!" he demanded in a nervous tone.

The boy, by the name of Ben, looked at Randall crossly and told him in a stern tone, "Because, I seem to be too _young _to do all that even though I know my way around a creature's horns. If the Baron's _goons_ find out that I'm handling the creatures I'll end up in the Prison Fortress... again! Do you want that, Randy?"

Randall just shook his head rapidly and was shrinking like he was scared of him. This scene would seem odd to those who don't know Ben because Randall was bigger and older than him. Ben took a deep breath, downed the rest of his coffee, crushed the foam cup, and underhanded it into the nearest dumpster which he didn't miss. Randall did the same thing, but he missed the dumpster. He ran to it as fast as he could, picked up the trash, and put it in the dump before the guards noticed. Ben sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance when Randall ran back to him.

"You've got to learn to stand up to those guards." Ben said as if the very word tasted revolting and he looked a bit exasperated, "Otherwise they'll just walk all over you like you're stairs!"

Randall's shoulders slumped and he looked down at his filthy loafers as he trudged behind Ben. Ben was walking like he was balancing books while he was ahead of Randall. The funny pair was silent as they walked up the stairs of the imposing observatory that stood out like a sore thumb in the area that had buildings that didn't look even half as inviting.

* * *

They stepped into the observatory and Ben turned the power on. The place seemed, to a scientist, as though they've died and gone to heaven. The place was full of the latest technology in Ben's world. It had X-rays, monitors, tools that are well polished, precursor steel cages, gleaming silver tables, clean testing tubes, countless advanced chemistry sets, hundreds of colorful chemicals, thousands of books on random subjects, and ten rooms with different labels. The ten rooms are the broom closet, the examination room to examine new speices, the stock room to stock new creatures in, the back door, the bathroom, the hangar for deliveries, the chemistry room, the surgeon room for Ben to _practice_, the laboratory for experiments, and the emergency room for the injured. The observatory itself was clean, sterile, and as inviting as a spa for a Dark Sage's Observatory. The stock room is where its true colors shine because it looked as bad as the Aeropan Research Rig. It's mostly because no one goes in there except for Randall and Ben. Anybody else who does either doesn't come out alive or will _never _go in there again. Ben used to work with the Aeropans, but he quit after he realized what they were doing and he refused almost all the invites into the fortress so they could use his discoveries to aid in their "project" which he found out two years ago because he reads detective novels, especially Sherlock Holmes, like it's going out of style.

Ben took deep breaths to try to take in the odors of the place which would smell unpleasant to most, but it's like a flowery spring morning to Ben. Randall covered his nose in every way possible to try to get used to the horrid smell of Dark Eco, blood, malodorous chemicals, and other terrible smells again. Ben kept his eyes closed, nose in the air, and he kept inhaling the smells into his powerful lungs for nearly a minute. He finally exhales sharply, shook his head almost violently, and opened his eyes that looked as if he just met the Precursors.

"Another day," Ben claimed like an actor on a stage, "another new creature to discover."

Randall shuffled in after Ben looking like he's just seen his worst nightmare and he tries not to show it. But, he was failing miserably.

"Yeah," Randall whimpered while fidgeting, "another day, another _monster_ to nearly get killed by!"

Ben stopped walking, turned to Randall, crossed his arms, and tried to appear calm before his twitchy assistant.

"Randall, the correct term," Ben said in a tone that is as smooth as silk, "I believe, is _creature_."

Randall looked less than thrilled at Ben's ignorance and the fact that those things tried to kill him in more ways than one. His timid demeanor vanished momentarily so he can get into, yet another, debate about whether to call it a creature or a monster.

"Which is a nice way of saying _monster_!" he screamed at Ben while flailing his arms like a maniac.

Ben turned his back on his annoying colleague. He sighed, looked up, rolled his eyes, and looked throughly annoyed. Ben turned back around to his friend to try to convince him.

"When are you going to see a creature as a new species?" He asked with confusion dripping in his tone.

"When they stop trying to **_kill_ _me_...**" Randall tried to retaliate before Ben saw something.

Whatever he saw it was annoying him because his face was contorted in a combination of anger and annoyance. He looked down at Randall's shoes which had been trailing mud from the door to the middle of the lab.

"Randall!" Ben growled inhumanly at his colleague pointing at his muddy shoes.

Randall groaned in disgust before he turned around and trudged to the bathroom to wash his muddy shoes. After that, he grabbed the mop before Ben could point it out and cleaned the muddy trail he made from his filthy shoes. Then, he put his shoes back on and placed the plastic footings over his shoes while grumbling in protest from all Ben puts him through.

"Ben." Randy grumbled while tying off the plastic wrappings, "You _really _need to cool it with the 'strict codes of conduct' stuff!"

Ben groaned quietly, turned his back on Randall, crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and looked down. He does that to try to calm himself because, like most natural-born Dark Eco Sages, he has a bit of a 'Dark Side' to him. The only weakness is that his powers were barely developed because of his young age. But, he still gets quite dangerous if he loses his temper which he hasn't in three years and he doesn't intend on starting now. He finally got a grip on his temper, sighs, and uncrossed his arms.

"Just get to work at stocking in the new creatures that I'm going to study." he muttered before it was quickly replaced with a hopeful tone, "Are there any Dark Demons?"

Randall looked shocked beyond all reason at that question because, in his views, a Dark Demon is by far the worst and most dangerous creature one would ever come across. Most people would agree to that since they've only heard legends and rumors about them. Some people say that the Dark Demon is only a legend and that they don't even exist. But, Ben hasn't lost hope and he made it his life's quest to find, study, and learn _everything _about it.

Ben sighed dreamily at his reverie of actually meeting the rare creature like a boy would when he's in love with the girl of his dreams and droned, "Wouldn't I give to at least _see _one."

Randy rolled his eyes groaning in an annoyed way at Ben's insane reverie of meeting one of those things. Even Randall believed that they don't exist and that his Holmesian friend is on a wild goose chase for something that only exists in legends and ghost stories.

"Ben," Randall told him, "I'm not one to rain on other people's parades, but those monsters don't exist!"

That crossed the line right there because telling Ben that a Dark Demon doesn't exist is like kicking a crocadog. But, Ben tries to take it calmly which is alien to most of the people that he meets who think they don't exist.

"Sure they do, Randall." Ben elaborated calmly, "If they didn't exist then _we_ wouldn't exist. _Someone _had to have become a Dark Demon from being exposed to Dark Eco. It's a very possible theory, Randy."

"It's impossible, Ben!" Randall yelled, "No one could survived exposure to that much Dark Eco!"

Ben just smiled his trademark half-smile as he eyed Randy from his grey-rooted hair, to his darkening forest green eyes, to his fair skin that is barely starting to get a light blue hue, and to his finger nails that are looking a bit grey and is getting darker by the week.

"But, not improbable! How often have I told you when you have _eliminated_ the impossible, whatever remains, _however improbable..._" Ben remarked before catching himself starting to use one of Holmes' commonly used references again, "I mean, look at you. You've survived from daily exposure to Dark Eco ever since you started working with me and you're still very much alive. You're also already at the first stages of becoming one of them yourself. Ergo, it's very probable that someone could become a Dark Demon from over-exposure to Dark Eco."

Randall's eye twitched a bit at the realisation that he survived from constant exposure to the dark stuff ever since he started working for Ben. Randall couldn't help but run to the bathroom to look in the mirror. When he did, he realized that Ben may be right. He does look a bit like the humanoid creatures out of the books and it's getting more noticable by the week. It's actually the first time Randall has even so much as _glanced_ in a mirror since he started working for Ben. Ben starts to count backwards from ten as Randall started to get more and more freaked as he felt his ice-cold face and stares at his darkening fingernails. When Ben got to one, he covered his ears and Randall screamed so loud that it could be heard in the Wasteland.

"Well... that was pleasant." Ben muttered as he uncovered his ears.

"I don't _look _pleasant either!" Randall screamed from the bathroom.

"Don't worry Randy, I-I'll think of something that'll help with your... appearance." Ben fumbled while trying to think of a remedy for his unfortunate friend at the same time.

"You better!" Randy whimpered, "Or I'll never show my face in public again! Obviously."

"Yeah," Ben deadpanned, "like I would never show my face in the fortress again because of what I've unwittingly done to that poor little girl."

Randall was quick to realize who Ben was talking about, "Oh! You mean Ka-"

Before Randy could finish Ben held up a hand to quiet him.

"Yes," Ben muttered, "You know who I meant. If only I knew who she was I would've gotten her out of those _experiments_."

Ben growled that out as if the very word was his most hated enemy.

* * *

**Flashback: 5 Months of Working on Subject #45**

_There was a lot of commotion in the injection labs because several scientists were trying to hold down a girl who could easily pass for a fourteen year old who trained to go into a war that required more than just weapons. She was being held down because she was screaming and jolting like she was being set on fire._

_"What the hell is wrong with this freak?" a gruff scientist yelled_

_"How should I know?" a shorter one shot back, "I expected it to die not absorb it like that!"_

_"Yeah!" a taller scientist answered, "how in the name of the Dark Makers did it do that and could still be breathing?"_

_"Hell if I know!" the shorter one answered back, "what I **do** know is that we need to figure out what's wrong with this... **thing**."_

_"**She's**... going into shock." a calm voice with the tone of a child answered._

_The scientists looked in the direction of where the child-like voice came from and saw a ten-year old boy with brown tennis shoes, white socks, black pants, a blue shirt, grey gloves caked in blood, and a white coat that is much too big for him. He shrank a bit when all three scientists stared at him like he had Metal Bugs crawling out of his ears. The girl took this slight distraction to her advantage as she broke free of the scientists with a feral growl. She jumped over the scientists who were trying to grab her and landed on all fours in the shadows. The kid was a bit scared because he couldn't see the state that his subject was in._

_"It's loose!" the gruff scientist screamed, "Quick! Call the Krimzon G-" _

_The gruff scientist didn't get a chance to finish because the girl leapt on his back, snapped his neck like a toothpick, and threw him off the platform which was much to the 10 year old's shock._

_"By the Precursors!" the tall scientist muttered while backing away from the insane girl, "We've tortured her into insanity!"_

_The girl lunged at him and tore his arms off, beat him half to death with them, and threw him into the pit. That both interested and disgusted the child._

_"N-now listen here, freak!" the short scientist stammered getting into a weak, defensive poise, "Y-you don't want to m-mess with me! I know J-Judo!"_

_The girl just snorted like an animal, grabbed the man by his wrist, and threw him over her shoulder screaming into the pit which made the child a bit resentful._

_"You've just k-killed my colleagues!" The child yelled with a bravery that most men twice his size don't even have._

_The girl turned around and the young scientist saw her and all her bloody glory. Just a mere glance at her made the kid regret what he shouted. The girls' clothes were torn up to the point her unmentionables were vaguely showing, the outfit was absolutely filthy, and the kid could barely identify them as prison garments. Her skin was so horribly pale that most people would almost swear that she was one of the undead. Her eyes were so dark that you could barely see that her eyes were green. Also, one look at that savage face would give you nightmares for the rest of your life. Her red hair was almost to her lower back, in a mess of tangles, wild, and it was covered in grime. Her ears were pointed, but they weren't very long. Her body was covered in scars, welts, bruises, dents, scabs, burns, punctures, and all injuries of the skin that you can think of. Her teeth were inhumanly white from possibly devouring blood and had razor-sharp canines. Her fingers were stained with blood that recently belonged to the kid's colleagues and her fingernails looked somewhat like claws. Her toes seemed to have claws too. She snarled with each struggled breath she took and her savage growls coupled with the echo in the area gave her voice a more frightening tone. _

_"By the Precursors!" the kid muttered to himself, "What the hell have they done to her?" _

_The young 10-year-old was terrified of this prisoner to put it nicely. The girl roared like an animal as she lunged at the boy and the kid ran out of the way. The girl chased the young scientist on all fours to rend him to pieces and most likely eat them. She lunged at him again and made contact this time. She raised her clawed hand to tear into the child's face. Just as the girl's hand was inches from the boy's face he smacked her in the face as hard as he could. But, it didn't sound like hands against skin at all. It sounded more like claws rending rough flesh. The kid took note of that sound and looked at his hand to discover long, black claws tearing through his thick gloves. They were slightly serrated and could probably cut through anything. His other hand seemed to have claws too._

_"Wh-what?" he stuttered in shock, "What in the name of the Dark Makers is happening?" _

_As he took in the sight of the claws he also took the time to look over the poor girl he accidentally clawed. She was out like a light and had five bleeding gashes on her left cheek. When he looked back at his claws it reminded him of what he was becoming and thought of what could happen if people found out that he was a monster. He caught his negative thinking and pushed it back as quick as he could. He reminded himself that he prepared for when that day comes. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and the claws starting slowly receding into his split fingernails. He painfully pulled the split nails out and used Green Eco to grow them back. _

_When the scientist looked at the poor kid who was back to normal he actually felt pity. In fact, for the first time in 5 months, he felt a little compassionate for the girl. He got his first-aid kit out and placed a bandage laced with Green Eco on her scratch. She opened one eye that seemed to glint with a hint of reason, saw the scientist touching her face, and started to whimper weakly in panic._

_"No, no, no, no. It's okay. It's okay." The kid scientist soothed, "I'm here. Benny's got you."_

_After the soothing treatment the girl seemed to have composed herself and cooperate with the kid whose name is apparently Ben._

_Ben could tell by the girl's young eyes that she might be just a child whose taken on the form of a fit fourteen year old in a desperate attempt to adapt to this hell hole of a fortress and survive._

_"Y-you're just a kid," Ben inquired, "Aren't you?"_

_The girl nodded slowly while grimacing a bit because, by the dents and scars on her neck, it seemed to have hurt her to nod. _

_"Y-y-yes." The girl croaked in a scratchy voice, "I-I-I'm on... ly n-n-nine."_

_Ben was shocked beyond belief for two shocking reasons:_

_One, this is a nine-year old **child** he's dealing with and he's trying to heal her because he harmed her and he even arranged all of her "treatments" just like everybody else did with her! It confirms his theory of why his database claimed she was quite short when she was taken into the fortress._

_Two, her whole anatomy just screams, "I've been through hell and back again multiple times and I'm about ready to lose my senses over the overwhelming torture that you've gotten me into without you even knowing that I'm just a child!"_

_He realized that his guilty conscience can't take experimenting with this child any further. Even though her newfound powers could be useful to the losing war he's going to keep this 'miracle' secret from the others by 'fixing' the cameras to make sure they don't see that footage. Also, to make sure of it that it doesn't happen again he used his barely developed powers to suppress the darkness within her to keep her from changing no matter how mad she gets. But, there are flaws to this suppression, mostly because Ben hasn't quite perfected it. If she gets so mad that she's seeing red, unable to see straight, and can't think straight all at once the suppression will weaken. Ben had one other idea in mind, but it's so down right crazy that it makes the Dark Warrior Program itself seem like a great idea._

_"I need to get you out of here!" Ben stated, but fear overtook him, "But, Praxis will have my head if he finds out I helped you escape."_

_He was caught between saving her life or keeping himself alive. Since he valued his life he had no choice but to force her to stay in the hell hole. But, he made one final promise to the child who was on the verge of passing out._

_"I'll find a way to secretly save you without the Baron knowing it was me." Ben whispered as she fainted, "I swear to the Precursors I will help you somehow."_

_Within minutes of the incident several guards ran in to put her back in her cage. the boy had one last look at the girl's face and saw it looked much more human when she was asleep. When the guards were out of earshot he decided to pray for her safety. _

_"May the Precursors look after you!" he shouted after her before whispering, "May they forgive me as well after all I've done to you."_

_Once the girl was out of his sight he had a strange feeling he's gonna be seeing the girl a lot more often._

_Little did he know how right he really was._

* * *

Randall noticed that his colleague's muttering growls sounded suspiciously inhuman which made him a bit nervous because that's one of the noticable warning signs of change.

"Ben," Randall warned, "If you lose it again I'm calling for her again."

Ben instantly forced himself to calm down by taking deep breaths because the last thing he would want in this world is to be on the receiving end of his friends' hardwood/Precursor metal/Eco crystal staffs that actually help her control her many powers and abilities that would give his own a run for its money.

"Okay, okay, I'm good Randy" Ben breathed.

"Are you sure?" Randall asked cautiously, "You're still kinda on the pale side."

"Yes, I'm sure." Ben told Randall a little too fast for comfort, "I'm just..."

"Just... what?" Randall asked impatiently.

"Just remembering back then when I was in charge of her _treatments_." Ben explained as if the very word was his worst regret.

Randall nodded in understanding because he once performed injections upon a young man in his teens before quitting because his guilty conscience couldn't take it and he still feels guilty for doing that to this day.

When Ben finally calmed himself he got Randall to stock in the new creatures for him to study while he worked on a serum that'll permanently suppress the change coming over his assistant because he loses more assistants to Dark Eco exposure these days and he at least wants to help this one.

By the time Randall was half way done with no incidences which is very rare, Ben was done with the serum and got Randall to drink it. It wasn't as easy as it sounds because it took some persuasion, a few arguments, and a dose of reverse psychology. When he drank the serum it obviously tasted horrible because of the look on his face and he was gagging. He would've spat it out if it weren't for Ben covering his mouth and holding his nose to force him to swallow the potion.

"Bleech!" Randall yelled sticking out his tongue in disgust, "That tasted **disgusting**!"

Suddenly a wave of fear washed over Randall as he remembered what happens when he was forced to test these serums.

"W-will it hurt?" Randall asked worriedly as his eyes lightened up from the Dark Eco vanishing.

"No, it won't hurt." Ben stated as he noticed Randall's skin became its fair pallor.

"Are you sure?" Randall whimpered as his fingernails returned to normal.

"Yes," Ben smiled as Randall's whitening hair became dark yellow again, "You won't even notice it."

"When will it kick in?" Randall asked as he was back to normal.

Ben snickered from Randall's lack of notice at how quickly the serum worked and turned him back from a humanoid monster to something you can show in public without fear of getting captured by the guards.

"What's so funny?" Randall asked with confusion in his tone, "I just asked a straight forward question. When will it work?"

The lack of attention to how well it worked made Ben bust out laughing which angered Randall a bit.

"What are you laughing at Benny?" Randall questioned, "What's the matter with you?"

Ben just laughed harder and louder to the point that he's rolling on the floor.

"Do you see anything green?" Randall questioned angrily, "Anything wrong with my face?"

Ben just laughed harder to the point that Randall lost his temper. He grabbed Benny by his shoulders, picked him up to his face, yelled for him to stop it, shook him to his senses, and put him down when Ben finally calmed down.

"Alright, alright" Ben gasped between laughs, "I-I'll stop. It's just that..."

He started laughing again which made Randall drop his frightened persona and stand up to him.

"Ben!" he shouted, "That's enough! Now, tell me what's so funny or so help me I'll quit right on the spot!"

That threat made Ben stop laughing so fast that it was impressive at how quick he can bounce back.

"Okay, okay," Ben calmed, "I'm laughing because it already kicked it and... well, look in the mirror"

Randall walked into the bathroom looking a bit miffed at his employer for laughing at him. Ben does pay him handsomely, but this was starting to get on his last nerve.

When he looked in the mirror he was pleasantly surprised to find that he no longer looked like something that belongs in an experimentation lab. He looked at his normal fingers, slightly tanned skin, dark yellow hair, forest green eyes, and felt his warm skin.

"I-I look like me again! Thank the Precursors!" Randall exclaimed, "Ben you're a miracle worker!" He was still staring at his normal form like it was the first time he looked in a mirror as he yelled that.

Ben blushed as red as Red Eco from the compliment and muttered, "It was nothing Randy, it really wasn't difficult at all."

"Really?" Randall inquired, "What did you do?" He quickly covered his mouth and immediately regretted asking that.

"All I did was take a sample of your blood, applied microscopic amounts of Uranium-248 to sever the chemical bonds in your DNA so I can get at the Dark atoms, removed the leftover amounts of the unstable element, and I stabilized the anatomy of your DNA with stabilizing methods that you could barely comprehend or it could cause a cascade reaction that could easily take out the city and all its inhabitants." Ben rambled on with his accent slipping, "Next, I injected microscopic amounts of Light Eco into the DNA to stabilize the Dark atoms. After that, I injected a potion that eats away at the Dark atoms to the point that I could barely make it out on my most powerful microscope. Finally, I recombined the chemical bonds so the DNA can function properly and I placed the modified blood sample into a potion that'll speed the decontamination process by five thousand fold. Only, instead of using Light Eco to stabilize the Dark Eco, the potion uses..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Randall yelled covering Ben's rambling mouth, "Time out there, Brainy Brit!"

Ben managed to pull Randall's hand away from his mouth and finish, "In short, I took a sample of your blood, took it apart, modified it, put it back together, and added it in a potion that speeds up that process. Better?"

"Much better" Randall answered. "I guess I better finish stocking in these new creatures before they figure out how to escape."

"Good idea" Ben said, "I'll just get back to playing with my chemistry set."

Randall giggled at the obvious joke and got back to work on stocking in the new creatures. Ben got back to working on some new problem that involves one of his newest and more interesting patients.

* * *

_Imagination Gamer: Who's the new patient I wonder? Can anyone guess? Find out in the next chapter because I'm giving no hints! Who's the mystery child in this story who seems to have gone through hell and it shows in her appearance? Let's see if I'll give away her name. Maybe I will, maybe I won't._


	2. Ben's Befuddling Behavior

_Imagination Gamer: Not bad for the first try, eh? Well, This one might (keyword: MIGHT) be shorter than the last one, but it does mention someone we all know. (Nudge! Nudge! Wink! Wink!) Enjoy the second chapter. Remember, this is the first story that I've ever typed. It's actually a miracle that I've worked up the nerve to actually attempt to share my stories in public! So, go easy on the flames! _

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OCs, don't sue me! I'm far from being worth it!**

**_Ben's Befuddling Behavior_**

After Ben finished tinkering with his chemistry set, he took out his case files to add in a form about a new patient that he ran into the other day. He had the young man write a form about his "issues".

_This patient wrote in this form _: (parenthesis is Ben's opinion on what he wrote.)

**Name**:_ Jak _(That's a rare name these days, I've only run into one other Jack.)

**Age**: _17 _(He doesn't look seventeen at all; he could easily pass for his early twenties.)

**Eyes**: _Cerulean _(He told me it was a lighter cerulean, but I can guess what did that!)

**Hair**: _Yellow/Green _(That's a rare color combination, I've only had one other patient who had that.)

**Height**: _5"8 _(That's average; an inch off though.)

**Weight**: _175 lbs_ (Slightly overweight; muscle could be his only bulk though; skinny around the waist.)

**Blood Pressure**: _140 over 90 _(Unusually high for age; could be Eco exposure.)

**Heart Rate**: 35_ Beats a minute _(Unusually low for blood pressure; could be very active.)

**Condition**: _Severe Dark Eco exposure _(Very rare to the point that I only had one other person with that in my career.)

**Life Expectancy**: _2-3 years _(He could last longer due to certain abilities that I've seen him do over the news.)

Ben looked a bit upset at the patient's supposed life expectancy. But, he's lost a bunch of patients a lot earlier than that. So, he attempted to shake it off because the kid does have certain abilities that you don't usually see. The teen probably just doubts his own powers. Ben shouldn't be surprised because he experienced the same doubt a couple of years ago. He looked through it even more by turning the page to the symptoms of his condition.

**Symptoms**: _Mood swings, increased aggression, angry outbursts, black outs, disturbed sleep, hot/cold flashes, growling, Dark Eco discharges, tunnel vision, transformations, headaches, sore bones, muscle spasms, dizziness, nausea, tiredness, lack of memory after moment of blacking out, veins glowing purple every now and again, hearing sinister voices, having no blood type, increased strength, increase in durability, increased speed, acting monstrous, and more that won't fit on this page. _(Wow! That's quite a collection of complications there!)

As Ben looked over the many symptoms he was really glad that he's not in this guys' shoes. Or steel-soled combat boots in this man's case. Ben thought that this kid has more complications than him and all of his patients put together.

Ben decided that he had enough of looking through the kid's files and placed it in his filing cabinet of Terminal Cases. Ben silently prayed that this Jak person will survive this curse that he wouldn't even dare wish on his worst enemy.

Just as Ben was about to place the file in his filing cabinet he heard the loud feminine scream of his assistant which made him jump a mile and almost drop the file.

"Randall!" Ben screamed, "What's wrong?! What happened?!"

"HELP!" Randall shrieked, "IT"S GONNA EAT ME!"

"Of course." Ben grumbled before he filed the file and took his lab coat off as well as his gloves to fight the possible threat.

"HELP ME!" Randall shouted.

Ben sprinted into the stock room when the blood curdling screams suddenly turned into unnerving gurgling. He burst through the storage room door and saw, to his amusement, Randall being attacked by something that looks like a smaller version of a Spine Fish except it was purple, had black spikes, sharper teeth, soulless black eyes, and its fins were even covered in spikes. Poor Randall was getting spiked and finned by the tiny creature in the throat and he was taking it way too seriously.

"Randall, it's just a little one." Ben laughed, "It won't hurt you too bad."

Ben's words came on deaf ears because Randall was a bit mad at Ben for laughing at him.

"Don't just stand there laughing!" Randall yelled, "Get this thing off me! It might kill me in a nanosecond!"

Ben just kept snickering as he gently stroked the creatures' spine which made it purr like a cat and retract its spikes into its body. Ben picked it up and continued stroking its back talking to it like it's a baby which it most likely is due to its size.

"It's okay, it's okay." Ben cooed, "I won't let that klutz harm you anymore."

Randall stared at the spectacle like he's never seen this before. That is most likely true because Ben usually wrestles creatures into their cages while retaining pretty concerning injures that Ben often calls _flesh wounds_. But, treating them like regular animals is new to him.

"Uhh, Ben?" Randall asked.

It came on deaf ears as he gently placed the Dark Spine Fish in a barred, precursor steel tank and stroked it one last time before sealing it.

"Benny?!" Randall asked a bit louder as Ben picked up a kitten that was exposed to Dark Eco and lived.

"Yes, Randall?" Ben answered as he was petting the creature _without _his gloves which was also weird to Randall.

"Umm, a-are you feeling alright?" Randall stammered.

"Of course." Ben told him, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Uhh, erm, ahh, n-nevermind, Benny." Randall faltered, "G-go back to doing... whatever."

Ben just shrugged and muttered something incoherent in Dark Demon. But, it sounded like, "What's gotten into him?"

"Uhh, B-B-Ben..." Randall stumbled in fright from the sound of the growls.

"Hmm?" Ben muttered as he placed the kitten on a testing table and took a sample of its blood for testing.

"I-I-I k-know you c-can speak in y-your family's language..."

Ben nodded slowly as he slid the tube of blood into his testing rack a bit too hard for comfort. He even looked annoyed because he knew what Randall was going to say for the millionth time in the last two years that he's known him.

"...and y-you know th-that creeps me out..." Randall stumbled as Ben looked even more annoyed, "...So, c-can you try t-to not do that..."

Ben interrupted him while gently placing the kitten in a cage and locking the door by saying, "Alright, before I hear your complaint of the day about my ability to speak my natural language..." he inhaled sharply before retorting, "You know what? Lets _break down _my retort this time. Now, you know _very well_ that **damn** near _all _of my family consists of Humanoid Dark Makers, right?"

"Right." Randy grumbled.

"Also, that my... _kind_ is the** worst** you would ever come across." Ben retorted as he approached Randall threateningly.

"Yes." Randall sighed in annoyance; not even noticing Ben was approaching him.

"_And_ I was actually _born _with Dark powers which is so rare that it makes Eco Ore look **common**!" Ben growled as he circled Randall slowly.

"Yes, Ben." Randall gulped when he noticed Ben's behavior and feared the worst.

"_AND _that I've actually lost control before _and_ slipped up a few times!" Ben snarled, losing it a bit.

"Yeah" Randall whimpered; fingering his communicator to speed dial for 'the expert'.

"_**AND**_ I'm easily _offended_ by your _petty complaints_ about **my family**!" Ben howled, really losing control.

"y-yes B-Ben." Randall answered; taking out the communicator slowly and flipping it open.

"_**AND THAT I COULD EASILY LUNGE AT YOU AND KILL YOU RIGHT ON THE**** SPOT!**_" Ben roared at Randall, half gone with anger and eyes black as night.

"I get it, Ben." Randall answered a little too calm for comfort, "Now, if _you _don't calm down right this **second** I will not hesitate to call _**HER**_!"

When Ben heard that and saw Randall holding the communicator threateningly, he calmed down so fast and used every calming method he learned in Anger Management so effectively that Randall barely had time to press the number for Ben's' old friend before Ben snatched it from him.

"I'm alright, Randy." Ben sighed looking back to normal, "I just slipped up a bit."

"Are you sure?" Randall asked.

"Yes, Randall." Ben answered quickly, "There's no need to call in the cavalry!"

"Alright." Randall droned slowly from suspicion, "I won't call her."

"Besides," Ben recalled, "she told me that she has to patrol the Sewers and the last thing she wants is the Metal Heads to know her position."

"The Sewers?!" Randall yelled in shock.

"I know, Randy," Ben chuckled, "makes me wonder which commander she pissed off... again."

"Erol?" Randy guessed.

"Who do you think!" Ben yelled, "He's the only commander I know that is cruel enough to do that to his own _men_!"

"Which commander isn't cruel enough to do that to their men?!" Randall shouted.

"That's a very valid point there." Ben answered, "Now, let's get back to work."

"Right." Randall grumbled as another Krimzon Guard ship came in with more creatures, but due to Randall's injury, Ben has to do his _secret stocking _until the Green Eco heals Randall's wound.

Randall was getting more and more thrown off by Ben's gentleness to the subjects to the point that he was starting to question Ben's sanity.

"What the hell did he put in his Cheerios this morning?" Randall muttered.

After Randall recovered from his injury a few hours later, Ben's behavior got even more strange that it made the new patients' behavior look Elfan.

When Randall was finished stocking in the more exotic creatures and the next ship load was yet to arrive, he decided to check up on Ben to see if his odd behavior blew over.

"Okay Randy. Don't be too concerned about Ben's health." He told himself, "he's probably just sitting there, grumbling in his native tongue, playing with his chemistry set, and acting like a kid in a candy store when he discovers a new monster."

When Randall snuck in the lab he was shocked to see him reading something that is not chemistry related, Dark Eco related, or even medical related. What made it even more strange is that Ben was holding a pencil he usually uses for taking notes. But, he's not using it to take frantic notes this time. He was using this pencil to write in what looks like a dark green composition book. Randall thought that Ben had officially lost his mind and has officially threw him completely off!

"BEN!" Randall screamed loud enough to wake someone in a coma, "What in the name of the Precursors are you reading?!"

"Huh?" Ben answered, "Oh, I'm just reading something my friend wrote..."

"You know how she hates having her things touched without permission!" Randall yelled, "She's just like you in more than a few ways. She's just not as severe when it comes to 'codes of conduct' which I like her for that!"

"I know she hates having her things touched." Ben retorted, "But, I thought I'd proofread her works for her because she plans to publish them once the Underground topples the Baron which, to be honest, they'll most likely fail at without any sort of _special _help."

"Yeah." Randall shot back, "But, still, she will notice someone touched her works and guess who's gonna get third degree burns!"

"Not me because she would never hurt anyone that badly." Ben shot back at Randall.

"How do you know that?!" Randall screamed, "You experimented on her which changed her ways from a sweet, yet cocky, young girl into a vicious, cold, calculating, monstrous woman!"

"No, those mistakes didn't!" Ben shot back, "I know her a lot better than you do! She may look cold, hard, and calculating on the outside! But, on the inside, she has a heart of gold and she's still the eleven year old child I used to know!"

"Yeah, right!" Randall barked, "You're the one who experimented on her with Dark Eco which took her innocence away!"

That shut Ben up right there because what Randall pointed out has a lot of truth to it. Dark Eco tends to steal innocence and sanity away which made him reflect on the number of times his sanity slipped and fear for his own for the first time in two years.

* * *

**Flashback: A Month Before the Colleagues Deaths**

_Ben was in the labs walking to those who are in charge of the new 'guest' of the fortress. He wants to talk about giving her the royal 'treatment' because she wasn't making much progress in transforming at all. One of the scientists, who was fairly tall, saw him and immediately greeted him. _

_"Dr. Darkens!" he shouted, "What brings you here?" Ben, who was nearly ten, looked throughly displeased with their progress on the prisoner._

_"I'm here on the account of DWP #45." Ben stated with venom in his voice, "It's not making much progress at all."_

_"W-we're doing the best we can." A short, nervous scientist answered, "W-we're just trying to keep her alive."_

_"Well," Ben barked, "your BEST isn't **GOOD ENOUGH**!"_

_"Listen, Mr. I'm-The-Lead-Scientist-On-This-Train-Wreak-So-I-Can-Do-Whatever-I-Please-and-Get-Away-With-It," The gruff one growled, "we **need** to keep this one alive because it has a lot of potential and I heard a little birdie tell me that it can channel Eco."_

_"Is the 'little birdie' that imbecile Erol?!" Ben demanded._

_"NO!" The gruff scientist yelled._

_Ben persuaded him by giving him the 'Evil Eyes' that'll convince anyone to give him what he wants and it worked after nearly 10 seconds._

_"Yes." The gruff one grunted._

_"That's what I thought!" Ben snarled, "Just for that, I'm going to let Erol know that you let #45 listen to music and cause a food riot... AGAIN!"_

_"But, Darkens!" The gruff one whined, "I didn't know she'd try to do that from listening to a bit of music!"_

_"You should've seen in its records that it's easily influenced by a simple song!" Ben growled, "As for #45's lack of progress, double its doses, now."_

_"But..." The tall one tried to say._

_"Now!" Ben yelled._

_"But..." The short one tried to reason._

_"Now!" Ben shouted._

_"But..." The gruff one tried to tell him._

_"Now!" Ben screamed._

_"But..." They all tried._

_"**NOOOOOOOOW!**" Ben roared loud enough for the entire city to hear and to scare every scientist to double the doses on subject #45._

_"Jeez, and he says Erol's an imbecile." The tall one whispered as he accidentally turned the knobs that, not only doubles the doses, he quadrupled the doses by mistake!_

**_Several Weeks Later in The Testing Room:_**

_Ben was watching subject #45 battle several other 'normal' prisoners and they all were easily killed by her. But, there were several 'disappointments' to her progress as stated in Ben's report:_

_(Scale 1-100)_

_Willingness to kill: 60  
(Still has trouble killing civilians; no trouble with Dark Warriors; little trouble with creatures.)_

_Power: 80  
(Precision needs some work; strength needs tapped into; speed is perfect; has many abilities; could be a huge threat to society.)_

_Intelligence: 100  
(Can work out complex problems in her head in an instant; plans every move in seconds; knows her history really well; stellar at math; well rehearsed in terms of English; can speak several hundred different languages; constantly tests cage for weaknesses; capable of extremely complex thoughts.)_

_Obedience: 25  
(Doesn't listen; attention span of a Yakow; very rebellious; disrespectful towards guards; hates scientists with a passion; has sworn to kill the Baron; won't follow orders; caused 10 riots; insults others; tortures the guards with annoying songs; no sense of propriety.)_

_Agility: 90  
(Can move really fast; really quick reflexes; can do acrobatic feats almost effortlessly; has been shown to be a bit clumsy at times; can do flips, twists, rolls, anything in the air.)_

_Flexibility: 100  
(Can twist herself into a lot of odd contortions; helps with the acrobatics; can do contortions in the height of her jump; can do the matrix to avoid bullets.)_

_Discipline: 10  
(Never follows orders; tortures the guards with annoying songs; tries to show that she has her "own ways" of making others listen; likes to do things her way that would work out better; no kind of torture phases her at all; has a very strong will and sense of self; may never make a good soldier; hates authority figures with a passion.)_

_Spirit: 60  
(Dances like a nut; loves to sing; enjoys music; makes music with various objects; makes really rude jokes; has a very powerful belly laugh that seems to be contagious; has had bouts of sadness that lasted for days; been in constant depression; insults guards for fun; plays games of all kinds; feels lonely at times; tries to make friends with almost anyone to try to feel more at home; loves to read, write, draw, and create things with her powers.)_

_Signs of Change: 40  
(Had fits of angry rages before; tries to show others whose boss; gets into violent fights; tries to start trouble; very territorial as expected; physique has change drastically; skill, flexibility, agility, reflexes, strength, senses, power, and speed has increased to inhuman and dangerous levels; anger has increased as expected; has growled, snarled, ran on all fours, and acted like a monster many times; no signs of physical change into Dark Demon.)_

_Signed: Benjamin David Arthur Darkens_

_"This is starting to get annoying." Ben grumbled as he finished his 92nd report on subject #45, "If that thing doesn't show any sign of change I'm going to have to terminate the project and many months of research is going down the drain!" He shouted as he slammed his clipboard on the dashboard in anger._

_He gasped in horror because it pressed a bunch of buttons which activated the ceiling turrents and they started to fire upon the subject. It was extremely displeased by the surprise and it used its amazing flexibility, agility, and strength to take them out. Ben managed to deactivate them just as the subject took out half of them. _

_"What the hell?!" the subject screamed, "I thought we were doing that next month! Are you TRYING to kill me?! IS THAT IT?! **IS IT?!**"_

_The subject's retort came in on deaf ears because Ben was so mad at himself for doing that because the turrent incident obviously pissed off the subject which will throw the schedule off by two months. Also, the destruction of the turrents will really put a crimp in the Baron's war fund. Little did Ben realize that someone was behind him the whole time trying not to laugh._

_"**DAMMIT**, **DAMMIT**, **DAMMIT**, **DAMMIT**!' Ben shouted angrily, "This spike in anger is going to throw **everything** off! This little brat is going to **pay** for destroying those turrents! They're **suppost** to keep prisoners **in** and those turrents **don't** come cheap at all! **The** **Baron is going to murder me for this**!"_

_Ben was so angry by his clumsy mistake that he lost his shortening temper. He put his fist through a wall which was made of metal with concrete in the center. A scientist came in to see what all the noise was about. But, Ben ended up punching him so hard that he is likely to have broken a lot more than the guy's ribs! Ben realized what he was doing and quickly tried to calm himself before he kills someone! He managed to get a grip on his rage by taking deep breaths and slowly counting to ten. He had to do that before his anger reaches its peak or the worst of him will come out and everyone will be in danger!_

_The mysterious shadow picked that moment to step out and it revealed a man who just passed his prime. He was fairly tall with graying brownish black hair, long ears like everyone else in this world, pale skin, long fingers, and blackish fingernails. He was wearing a long white lab coat, black pants, black combat boots, purple goggles with a black lens, a necklace that looks like a Dark Eco crystal imbedded in a Precursor metal lining that had an ancient dialect written around the lining, a golden wedding ring on his middle finger that seemed to be constantly cleaned, and he was wearing black sunglasses like a police officer would._

_"Something troubling you, brother?" the man asked in a strong English voice that seemed as smooth as silk._

_"**I'm not going to lose it again if that's what you're assuming John**!" Ben growled inhumanly._

_"It sounds as though you are going to take leave of your senses again." John assumed, "I think you should give into it and let go. After all, you cannot hide what's inside, Dark freak."_

_Ben growled at him and shouted, "**I HATE being called that! I'm not going to lose it again! I'm never going to let innocent people die by my hands again**!"_

_He was taking long, deep breaths to calm himself down. He counted to ten as his inhales almost had his lungs burst and counted to ten again as his exhales was about to leave him breathless. His sense of reason finally returned and saw what he did to the poor man. He helped the poor scientist up and called the infirmary to immediately take the man to the sick bay which they did in less than ten minutes. It just leaves him and John who was fairly annoyed by his younger brother._

_"Why do you resist the change?" John demanded, "It'll be fruitless by the time your powers fully manifest theirselves."_

_"Until then," Ben retorted, "I'm going to enjoy my days being a normal Elfan whether you tolerate it or not!"_

_John just scoffed at him and teased, "At least I accepted my fate, unlike you, weakling!"_

_Ben snorted with amusement and shot back, "You're calling me a weakling?! At least I accepted that one of my relatives has departed. Yet, you're still looking for your six-year-old son without even realizing that you're on a wild goose chase for a child who isn't even among the living anymore!"_

_"**HE IS NOT DEAD!**" John roared sounding like a vicious monster, "**HE'S STILL ALIVE! HE'S A SMART BOY! HE CAN'T BE STUPID ENOUGH TO DIE LIKE THAT! I CAN STILL FEEL HIS ENERGY!**"_

_John was gasping for air after yelling all that in one breath. It made Ben realize he went a bit too far in insulting this man. He shouldn't be insulting him like that because he helped him with his "issues" before and he should respect John for that despite the fact he teases him over everything. He saw John take out his wallet, open it, and took out a photo of a child who looks a lot like Ben except this child is only six. John also took off his sunglasses which revealed his whites were black as night, the color of his eyes are a blood-red, and the center of his eyes are snake-like. It scared Ben slightly because John never took off his sunglasses and he always wondered why. Now, Ben knows why his brother always wore them._

_"John, I'm sorry." Ben whispered, "That was uncalled for."_

_"That's okay, Ben." John choked with tears that are as red as blood, "I guess I just need to let it go." _

_John put the picture in his wallet as he choked that out._

_"Just go keep searching for him." Ben told him, "I need to file this report."_

_Ben picked up the clipboard as he said that._

_"Alright," John agreed in a recovered tone as he put his wallet back in his back pocket, "I wish you luck in your research."_

_Ben just smiled and nodded at his brother's crude remark due to his lack of luck in his research. _

_John decided to reveal the prisoner's secret and told Ben in an unsettling tone, "You might want to try to be more gentle to the subject. She's just a child after all."_

_John put his sunglasses on as he walked away from a disturbed Ben. Just as John was about to close the hatch he decided to upset Ben even more to get back at him for insulting his search for his son._

_"You heard me correctly." John smiled evilly, "Also, you just stole her innocence and her sanity away with those experiments. I'm sorry to say that you owe that girl a childhood!"_

_John closed the hatch and locked it. Poor Ben was so disturbed that he dropped his clipboard and his pen again with his eyes wide with surprise and his jaw dropped. He held that shocked position for nearly two minutes before he struggled to summon the will to speak._

_"Sh-sh-sh-she's just a... child?" Ben croaked in shock._

_**Later in The Lab:**_

_After Ben found the will to move, he quickly filed the report in his filing cabinent. He ran as fast as his barely developed powers would allow to get to the lab so he can look up subject #45's information._

_'She's just a child?!' Ben thought frantically, 'That's INSANE, OUTRAGEOUS, AND ILLEGAL TO BOOT!'_

_Ben ran into the vacant lab and sat down on his personal computer. He looked up data on the prisoners of the Dark Warrior Program and found an overwhelming number of prisoners. So, __Ben decided to narrow it down by looking up the subjects that are still alive and still found an overwhelming number of prisoners. __Ben groaned in annoyance and narrowed down his search as best as he could by looking up those who has shown no sign of change and found this:_

**Subject #12:alive**

**Subject #15:deceased**

**Subject #25:deceased**

**Subject #30:alive**

**Subject #35:alive**

**Subject #40:alive**

**Subject #43:deceased**

**Subject #45: alive**

**Subject #50: deceased**

_Ben's heart skipped a beat from excitement. He clicked on subject #45 and saw this:_

**Subject #45**

**Name: **_C__lassified_

**Height: **_P__reviously: _4"11; _Currently: _5"6

**Weight:** _Previously: _90lbs; _C____urrently_: 110lbs

**Gender: **Female

**Hair:** Bright red with vague yellow-green roots

**Eyes:** _P__reviously: _emerald-green; _C__urrently: _forest green

**Skin:** _P__reviously: _dusty tan; _Currently: _tarnish pallor

**Age:** _N/A_

**Status:** Alive

**Prison Time: **3 months; 21 days; 3 hours; 45 minutes

**Progress: **No sign of transformation

**DE Doses: **40 gallons a day

_Ben was shocked beyond belief at the doses the subject is getting. He told them to double the doses of Dark Eco not quadruple it! He got over it because it's been a few weeks and the subject is still alive. So, he's not going to complain about the doses. He was frustrated by the fact that the information has shown no name or age. But, he had an idea to figure out her age by using his knowledge from medical school._

_"Let's see," Ben calculated, "she was four-foot eleven and she was ninety pounds. So, that places her age at around... hmm."_

_Ben moved his fingers around, lip spoke rapidly, and was mentally doing calculus in his head. The result he came up with shocked him so bad he almost blacked out in a rage._

_"Between the ages of eight and ten?!" Ben thought aloud._

_He quickly covered his mouth and looked around to make sure no one heard him scream that. No one seemed to have heard him shout that shocking age and no one seems to be around. So, in a fit of righteous anger, he hacked into the database and posted her true age for all who may look into the subject's information to see. Ben quickly logged off, got up, and walked away in enough anger to frighten a Metal Head to try to have a "talk" with Erol._

**_Later at Erol's Quarters:_**

_Ben stomped up to Erol with his face contorted in a rage that's enough to scare anyone or anything. Well, anyone except Erol who's seen far worse looks from the prisoners, the civilians, even from his own men._

_"**ERRRRROOOOOOLLLLLL!**" Ben shrieked, "**THAT GIRL IS ONLY A CHILD?!**" _

_"Yes, she is a child." Erol answered, "But, she has so much raw power that it's too great an opportunity to pass up!"_

_"But, a child?!" Ben pointed out, "Even my family is not THAT damn cruel!"_

_"Oh really?" Erol sneered, "Says the doctor who drove a child to become a monster!"_

_"I wasn't informed of her age because SOMEONE refused to tell me before you put me in charge of her!" Ben shouted._

_"I couldn't tell you of her age because..." Erol began._

_"You thought I wouldn't take charge because she was too young?" Ben guessed furiously._

_"NO!" Erol shouted, "She refused to give me her age. Much less giving me her own name."_

_"Bull shit!" Ben screamed, "You expect me to believe that malarkey?!"_

_"It's true!" Erol shouted taking out a recorder, "Listen to this."_

_He pressed the "Play" button and revealed that the girl rudely refused to tell her name and age and tossed a few insults that made Ben snicker. The recording went like this:_

_Erol: "Okay, what is your name?"_

_Girl: "Like hell I'll tell you that, you lap-dog!"_

_Erol: "You must tell the fortress your name because your description is not in any of our records."_

_Girl: "Trust me, the less you know about me, the better, carrot top!"_

_Erol: "Actually, the more I know about you, the better for everyone's health!"_

_Girl: "Speaking of health, you really need to eat something! I mean, sheesh! Look at you! You're so skinny, the next big wind could blow you away!"_

_The guards laughed and snickered at the girl's insult._

_Erol: "Shut up! Alright, I'll just call you Nothing! How do you like that!_

_Girl: "Better than you AND your two-bit knowledge of how to talk to a young woman properly!"_

_Erol growls at the girl in anger and the guards laugh at Erol._

_Erol: "SHUT UP OR I'LL ORDER YOU ALL UNDER ARREST AND PLACED IN THE DWP!"_

_The guards all quiet down for fear of that threat becoming reality._

_Girl: "Wow, and everyone says I'VE got a short fuse. But, you? Whew, YOU take the cake!"_

_Erol: "Shut up! Now, at least tell me how old you are._

_Girl: "Hmm, I'm not really sure. 17? Nah! 20? No. Oh gee, I really don't know because it's so hard to keep track of the number of years it's been."_

_Erol: "Tell me how old you are or else!"_

_Girl: "Or else what?"_

_Erol: "Or else I'll give you a reason to be afraid!"_

_Girl: "Ooh! I'm SO scared! You know what is actually frightening?_

_Erol: "What?!"_

_Girl: "That fright-wig you call hair! And that get-up of yours! Let me guess, you're going for a career in figure skating?!"_

_The guards laugh hysterically and Erol screams in rage._

_Erol: "THAT DOES IT!"_

_There is a loud stabbing noise and the Girl screams in pain as the recording's sound became static and shut down. Erol saw Ben snickering and he looked at him really hard._

_"It's not funny!" Erol shouted, "I just wasn't wearing my armor!"_

_"No, it's not funny!" Ben giggled, "It's hilarious!"_

_"THAT'S ENOUGH OR I'LL HAVE THE BARON TOSS YOU IN THE WASTELAND!"_

_That threat made Ben stop laughing so quick that it was almost amazing._

_"Okay, okay." Ben assured, "There's no need to do that, Erol. Besides, you'd never do that to me because I'm the best lead scientist you've got since Tym vanished."_

_"Yeah," Erol mumbled, "You're right about that."_

_"So," Ben started, "are you going to release that poor child?"_

_"No," Erol scoffed, "she's a danger to society now. She's no longer that 'sweet', 'innocent', little girl that she used to be. But, a monster that won't hesitate to kill you as soon as she looks at you!"_

_"Humph!" Ben scorned, "Yeah, because of what you do to them that turns them from highly respected people to complete Eco monsters!"_

_"Ben!" Erol screamed, "My answer is final! We are keeping the girl here because she can help us win this war!"_

_"Huh!" Ben muttered, "Maybe if we actually TRY to train our men maybe we wouldn't have to pump innocent people full of Dark Eco to turn them into corpses."_

_"Guards!" Erol screamed as his men ran in, "Get this piece of garbage out of here!"_

_"You heard him, men." Ben laughed pointing at Erol, "Get this piece of garbage out of here!"_

_"**OUT, OUT, OUT, OUT, OOOOOUUUUUUUUUT!**" Erol roared as they dragged a laughing Ben out of Erol's quarters._

* * *

Ben snapped out of his flashback when Randall started snapping his fingers in front of Ben's face.

"Huh?" Ben mumbled, "What, what, what, what, what?"

"You alright?" Randall asked, "You zoned out for a moment there."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ben muttered, "I was just having a flashback."

"You've been having these flashbacks a lot lately." Randall pointed out, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, Randy." Ben answered a bit too quick for comfort, "I'll be okay, I just need to find something constructive to do."

"Or _de_structive." Randall joked which earned him a hard look from his employer.

Ben continued to proofread the girl's works, much to Randall's chagrin. Randall continued to stock in the new truck of creatures that came in just after he got Ben out of la la land. These creatures are new which did nothing to change Ben's odd mood. When Randall accidentally spilled Ben's chemicals all over his clean floors he didn't even scream at Randall for being such an uncoordinated imbecile. Ben just told him in a calm manner to grab a mop and clean it up. Randall did so with contempt because he's never seen his friend act this way before. Later, Ben was just sitting there daydreaming and leaving his chemicals untouched. Randall decided to intervene and find out what the heck is going on with him.

"Ben?" Randall asked, but he got no response.

"Ben?" Randall questioned with no answer.

"Benny!?" Randall asked while trying to shake him which earned him no words out of Ben's mouth.

"Benny!" Randall shouted silently while shaking his shoulder almost violently. Ben didn't even stir from his torpid state.

"**BENJAMIN DAVID ARTHUR DARKENS!**" Randall screamed at the top of his lungs, "**BLINK OR SOMETHING WILL YOU?! YOU'RE SCARING ME!**"

Ben was still out of it for some reason and Randall decided to use the '_Wake Up Call' _upon him. He grabbed a syringe, filled it with Dark Eco that came directly from a lake, and injected it into Ben's neck. The effects were almost instantaneous upon him. He leapt up out of his dormant state screaming with Dark Eco bolts leaping out of him. He fell on the floor and was jolting violently for a bit before the bolts vanished and he recovered. But, he was beyond ticked off at his idiot assistant!

"Randolph Damian Elwyn!" Ben screamed with his accent really slipping, "Confound it! What in blazes are you trying to do?! MURDER ME?!"

Ben managed to control his anger and not kill his friend. But, Randall still looked a bit subdued because Ben dropped the full-name-bomb which usually shuts him up for days. But, it was only temporary this time because he has questions for Ben about his behavior. He was just having trouble summing up the courage to ask his Dark friend these questions because he's never complained about his friend's behavior before. In Ben's case, the less often the better for everyone's heath. But, Ben's behavior is getting a little out of hand to the point that he either needs professional help or a talk with an old friend.

* * *

_Imagination Gamer: Will Randall toughen up and ask his friend these important questions or will he let Ben's behavior persist? Let's hope so because usually when Ben doesn't act like himself something's gone wrong which usually sounds serious. P.S. I'm going to be updating already published chapters a lot because there are some things in my story that doesn't rub me the right way if you get what I meant. So, you might want to stop by often if you like my story at all._


	3. Questioning Ben and The Mystery Child

_Imagination Gamer: Three down and quite a few more to go. Let's hope I can get through this before the year ends because I have a lot of things to take care of next year! College planning, family traditions, school, crazy schedules, oh my!_

**Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure you get the idea that I don't own anything that I mention that is from a book, show, game, movie or anything. I just own the things that I made up for the story.**

_**Questioning Ben and The Mystery Child**_

After dropping the full-name-drill on Randall, it usually shuts him right up for several weeks. But, he wants to have a LONG talk with Ben because he's been acting strange for several days.

"Ben, that full-name-drill used to shut me up for weeks ever since I came to work for you, but not anymore!" Randall shot.

Ben just rolled his eyes in annoyance which would look very familiar to those who know a certain blonde teen.

"I have some questions for you Ben." Randall told him.

"What exactly are these questions?" Ben sighed.

"Why are you not mixing your chemicals to the point that it would cause an explosive rainbow?" Randall asked pointing at Ben's test tubes that are collecting dust.

"I just simply don't feel like it" Ben muttered.

"Why are you being so gentle with those freaking monsters?" Randall demanded.

"_Creatures!_" Ben angrily corrected.

"Whatever!" Randall shouted, "You used to love to practice your crazy light-weight boxing on the creatures!"

"In case you've failed to notice, Randy," Ben growled sternly, "They have feelings too!"

"Why haven't you shouted at me for my hopeless clumsiness for days?" Randall asked, "Going a day without shouting at me for making a mistake is normal to me. But, three long days?! That's not normal at all! It's way beyond abnormal! It's... it's... it's... so highly irregular that it may just disturb the very force that powers the element of Eco!"

"I'm just not myself today, Randy." Ben mumbled.

"Obviously," Randall grumbled, "Why are you acting so strange?"

"I have no idea." Ben answered awkwardly, "I guess I just had a bit of a rough night."

"Ben," Randy pointed out, "I've _seen_ the way you act after a rough night, this is definetly not it!"

Ben thought about the way he was acting and realized Randall was right. He has been acting rather oddly for quite a few days and his assistant was taking notice of it.

"I have acted rather odd lately." Ben murmured.

"Why?" Randall asked worriedly.

"I haven't the foggiest idea." Ben mumbled as he kept reading his friend's old stories.

"Another thing!" Randall shouted, "Why are you reading her old stories?!"

"I have no idea, Randy." Ben answered, "I guess I just have a horrible feeling that something terrible may've happened to her."

"Why would something bad happen to her?" Randall asked in surprise with his eyebrow raised.

"You never really know." Ben pointed out, "Krimzon Guard has been a rough job for quite a while."

"I know it can be a bit dangerous." Randall sighed, "But, no one has died in years."

"What about what happened when the Underground first formed!" Ben shot.

"True, someone will vanish from a patrol occasionally." Randall murmured.

Ben meant when the group was killing the more dangerous guards off. But, he looked a bit horrified at what Randall pointed out and started thinking about what kidnappers may do to children like her.

"But, they usually turn up in a year or two never looking the same again!" Randall rephrased quickly and haphazardly.

"Was _that_ supposed to make me feel any better?!" Ben growled.

"No, this was." Randall answered, "She's a tough girl, Ben. Half the guard is terrified of her temper and raw power alone! Most of the city knows her by name and appearance! Also, many of the low-life criminals in the slums run for cover at the very mention of her name! Ergo, I seriously doubt that any mugger or murderer would be anywhere _near _ambitious enough to get even within a foot of her!"

Ben thought about what Randall said and realized he was right about her being very tough to the point that even the Dark creatures in the observatory run and hide when she gets near. He was even right about her fiery temper, snippy attitude, and raw power instilling fear into many of the guards and criminals that she comes across.

"You're right." Ben admitted, "You're right. You know what? You're absolutely correct. She does provoke fear into the hearts of many who dare cross her. She is very powerful to the point that a criminal has to be either completely daft or a complete drunk to dare try to face her rage. Also, she does have a very hot temper and a fiery attitude that many know her for. So, I'm not so sure why I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm just not sure why I feel something horrible might have happened to her. I guess I'm just worried about her being in so dangerous a job as the Guard, Randall."

"See?" Randall told him, "There's nothing to worry about. She's doing just fine. She's probably patrolling the fortress like she's supposed to and ready to go home to take a well-deserved catnap."

"Actually, she takes care of her many pets first." Ben corrected, "Next, she tests the Dark Eco pipes in her chamber to make sure they're stable and not leaking. After that, if she has to, she does a little house keeping in every one of her many rooms in her mansion-like home at an incredible rate that would awe Sonic. Then, she has dinner with rather strange ingredients that even I can't identify. But, it tastes heavenly. Finally, she takes that well-deserved cat-nap that you mentioned."

"I get the idea!" Randall shouted, "She does a lot of things before taking a nap!"

"She does have her limits and her fatal flaws though." Ben thought aloud, "Remember the Eco Channeler Conspiracy?"

"Yes, a bunch of nut-job terrorists from the Underground tried to kill her in a bunch of ways. Why do you ask about the ECC?" Randall muttered in confusion.

"It also showed me that she always takes risks that almost get her killed." Ben pointed out while pinching the bridge of his noise.

* * *

**Flashback:**

_A year and a half ago, the aforementioned girl was walking with a woman who has pale skin, yellow eyes, red hair, a great figure and is in her twenties. Her name is Ashley. They were laughing and having a good time because the two just graduated and became full-fledged Krimzon Guards with the child at the top of the class. That fact alone surprised and shocked many of the recruits who thought that she wouldn't last a day._

_"I can't believe you made it through the grueling training, the horrid schedules, the crazy shootings, and the suspicious death threats!" Ashley yelled in shock._

_All of the things Ashley named just made the girl scoff at the training, snicker at the schedules, laugh at the shootings, and shake her head at the death threats._

_"Please!" the kid scoffed, "The training was easy, the schedules were simple to follow, the shootings were fun, and the death threats were downright dull!"_

_Ashley couldn't help, but to stare at this strange girl like she's finally lost it and needs serious help._

_"Uhh, I think you need to see that psychiatrist again." Ashley advised, "About your... issues with the difference between reality and fantasy, danger and safety, as well as fun and risk."_

_"Trust me." the child joked, "After seeing **me** for nearly an hour about my 'issues' it was an hour of sheer, unadulterated hell for him. By the time I was through with him, **he **needed to see a psychiatrist!"_

_"I wouldn't even bet on it." she muttered._

_The two got in the zoomer to go to the Hip Hog to throw a party for making the top of the class. Little do they know that they were being set up. The girl was about to start the zoomer when she heard an odd beeping noise that sounds akin to a heart monitor. _

_"Do you hear that?" She asked trying to find the source of the noise._

_"Hear what?"_

_She continued to hear that beeping noise that seems that only she can hear. The child decided to follow her training and look for the suspicious noise just like in training lesson #12: Look for Noises You Find Suspicious. She looked in the glove compartment, under the dash-board, under the seats, and even went as far as to look under the pedals. She couldn't find the source of the beeping with her eyes or ears. So, she resorted to the older techniques by using her other five senses. She tried her acute sense of smell and smelled concentrated Eco, iron, gunpowder, rust, and alcohol. She used her sense of feeling and felt around the area he smelled and felt something really warm on the dash. She used her sixth sense and sensed an enormous amount of unstable Eco in that area. The girl looked scared out of her iron wits because she sensed that there was a really powerful, but small, Eco bomb that can blow her and Ashley sky-high. The element being used was Dark and Red Eco combined! _

_"Hey, are we gonna go party hard or not?" Ashley groaned impatiently._

_"We will," she murmured while trying her best not to panic, "as soon as I find where the beeping is coming from."_

_The child was looking everywhere on the dash for that source of beeping and couldn't find it. Since Ashley couldn't hear the beeping she thought her friend was stalling. So, she became impatient with her and tried to take control of the situation._

_"Ugh! That's it, I'm driving!" She yelled turning the key._

_"**WAIT!**" the kid shouted, but it was too late. The beeping increased ten fold causing her to freak out, grab Ashley, and dive out of the zoomer. Everything seemed to slow down as the zoomer exploded in a flash of red and purple. The zoomer has done all the exploding it could do by the time they hit the pavement. _

_When they got their wits about them the girl glared dangerously at Ashley. But, she didn't say anything or do to her. The child just walked up to the wreckage and saw the zoomer exploded from the engine._

_"They planted a bomb in the engine!" The girl face-palmed herself, "How the hell did I miss that?! It's the most common place to plant a bomb in a vehicle! It's always something that I manage to miss that would've cost us our lives!"_

_Ashley looked astonished as the girl continued to rave and rant until she was finally done, bounced back, and walked away from the wreckage._

_"Oh well," The girl sighed, "at least we got out of it alive. Looks like we're gonna have to walk, Ashley."_

_Ashley had no choice but to follow the crazy child to the party at the bar because she wasn't familiar with this side of town._

* * *

**_A Month Later:_**

_The girl was doing surprisingly well as a guard. She never hesitated to follow orders that didn't involve attacking. The child complained very little about what she has to do. Also, she never hesitated to arrest who the guards are chasing. She made 30 arrests so far and half of them were injured by her brutal methods. Other than that, she did really well and made it to the elite title._

_While they were celebrating her promotion to the elite she was led astray again by one of her friends who was blonde, green-eyed, tan, and very attractive. Her name was Amber who happened to be Ashley's older sister. The two are like twins in terms of personality and figure. But, the only real personality difference between the two is that Amber is not that bright at times. Especially when it comes to making the **right **decisions. _

_"Trust me," she told the child, "It'll be fun."_

_"I don't know." the girl muttered, "I heard tanning can cause skin cancer."_

_"That's what they all say." she laughed, "They just want to keep you from becoming more beautiful."_

_"But, due to where I used to live," the girl explained, "I'm already quite tanned."_

_"Why not become completely tanned?" Amber asked._

_"I don't know." the girl hesitated, "It feels like I'm cheating nature and... I've got a bad feeling about this."_

_"Come on!" Amber pleaded, "At least give it just one try."_

_"Ugh. Alright!" she gave in, "If it'll satisfy you, I'll give it at least thirty seconds, but no more!"_

_"Okay." _

_They walked to the tanning booth of the fortress to obviously get a very short tan. They walked by a cell with a young prisoner hiding in the shadows looking in on the two talking about the child's quick promotion. Little do they realize that the Underground has something in store for them in the tanning area too and that the prisoner is also very important too! But, they went there anyway, disregarded the prisoner, and the girl was having trouble working them right._

_"How do you work these things?" the child asked._

_"It's easy." Amber explained, "You turn the knobs to set the heat, turn it on, and jump in."_

_"That sounds easy enough." she murmured._

_The girl used a key to unlock the thermostat and turned it up a bit due to the cold weather. But, she forgot to close and lock the thermostat in the plastic container. The child put her chocolate __milkshake down on a table for later. She and Amber stripped theirselves nearly bare. The both of them put the goggles and hair covers on for protection. Finally, they turned their music on and jumped into the tanning booths._

_"This is kinda warm in here." the girl complained._

_"You'll get used to it." Amber answered, "If you ever get in again."_

_"Keyword: **IF**_ _I ever get in again." she rebutted._

_While they were tanning and the girl was ironically singing Final Destination by Within Temptation someone snuck in on them and turned the heat on the thermostat all the way up to the nineties which Amber started feeling and complained a bit. But, the child was too lost in the song to notice the heat at the moment. Just as she finished the song without a hitch she too started to notice the unusual heat. But, she just shrugged it off thinking she's just not used to it yet._

_"Hey, kid." Amber tried to confirm, "Is it hot in here or is it just me?"_

_"Amber, I don't swing that way!" she shouted in offense._

_"That's not what I meant!" Amber shouted, "I mean it's **literally**_ _getting kinda hot in here."_

_"I guess it's been awhile for ya." the kid confirmed._

_Amber nodded because it's been half a year since the last time she used a tanning booth in the fortress. She forgot it gets kinda hot at first, but it evens out in a few seconds. Little did they both know what really caused the sharp increase in heat._

_"You might be right." Amber muttered._

_"There's nothing to fear in this heat box." the girl tried to encouraged._

_But, if they knew, there was plenty to fear about those 'heat boxes'. Due to the room heating up by a lot, the milkshake's cup started to 'sweat' due to the vapor in the room moving to the coldest spot in the room: the milkshake. Also, underneath the table was the heating mechanism that controls the UVA output in the booths. The water ran down the cup, onto the table, ran under the table, and started dripping onto the mechanism. The mechanism sparked and fizzed with the Blue Eco that was charging it. After the sparking stopped the regulation system in the mechanism shorted out and the UVA output started to slowly increase to dangerous levels!_

_"Whew," the girl murmured while wiping sweat off of her brow, "it's really starting to heat up here."_

_"Me too." Amber agreed, "I'm starting to feel it on my end."_

_As the girls complained about the heat the same person who snuck in was wearing a black skin suit and had his head covered by a mask. But, there were traces of a slick dirty blonde and the man murmured in a strong Brooklyn accent. _

_"The less of these dangerous guards on these streets the better." he murmured quietly as he placed boards on the handles of the booths to keep the young guards from getting out of the booths turned ovens. _

_He snuck out of there and ran into the high security cells to take a short cut out of the fortress. He ran past a cell that was opened and had an unconscious guard beside it. The skin suited spy leapt out the window, bounced clumsily off an awning, and landed face-first in his escape zoomer with three others. They drove off as fast as they could the second he straightened himself out to avoid being seen by the guards. _

_After all of that, there was screaming and banging at the booths. Inside were the two girls whose skin was burning off and the glass in the booths shattered which cut the girl's already damaged skin due to the extreme heat. Also, the suffocating heat caused a fire in the room which did not help the cooking girls. Just as almost all of their skin burned off and the girls were about ready to give up their screaming, the door suddenly busted open just like it was just a graham cracker. Whoever it was his face couldn't be made out in the fire. But, the shock of green and yellow hair could be made out despite the flames. _

_"Wh-what was that?" the girl thought to herself, "Is it the reaper coming to claim us? Is it someone here to help us? Is it the Metal Heads? Is it..."_

_The child passed out before she could finish her numerous mental questions. The man started coughing from the smoke. When he ran through the flames and ducked down to avoid the smoke it revealed he was wearing slightly torn prison garments that looked a little worse for wear and it was slightly burned from jumping through the fire. How he escaped from his cell again is what nobody but he knows. He strained his ears for who was screaming in there that tortured him mentally to the point that he beat up the guard and "borrowed" the key to open his cell. That was when the young girl started to moan in one last cry for help._

_"Help us..." he made out from what seems to be the moan of a young woman, "We're in the... tanning booths. Help us... Help..." the voice trailed off in a stupor._

_Seemingly filled with heroism for the first time in a long time, the man got up despite the smoke and ran in the direction of the voice to find this poor girl who was unfortunate enough to be trapped in the flames. He saw the tanning booths that were cooking the guards alive which made him hesitate to save them. His curiosity drove him to find out what caused this by using what he learned from sight to his advantage. He looked under the table and saw that the UVA levels reached to the point that it could rival the surface of the sun! He smelled what he recognized as burnt chocolate from his past, looked at the table, and saw the burnt remains of what caused the fire. He quickly looked at the booths and saw the boards lodged in the handles. He looked ahead and saw that the boards came from shelves that are the opposite of where they're lodged in the handles of the booths. He looked to his left and saw the open container of the thermostat that was almost as hot as the Wasteland which is against Krimzon Guard regulations. He realized in about a minute of looking around that this fire was no accident. Someone was trying to kill these two who are in these booths!_

_"Help us..." he heard another voice that belonged to Amber, "Please... Help us..."_

_His face contorted into a rage that burned hotter than the flames in the room at this injustice and tore the boards off of the handles of the booths so hard that the boards snapped in half. When he opened the booths, he coughed and wheezed from the blast of heat and the smell of burnt flesh and blood that hit him hard to the point that he's staggering. When he recovered, he was horrified at what became of those two that he recognized as the young women __that passed his cell earlier talking about the child's promotion to elite guard. Their skin was almost completely burned to the bone. Their hair, eyes, teeth, fingernails, limbs, noses, ears, and mouths were horribly damaged. They were both out like a light, but they were miraculously still breathing. The child's eyes flickered in an effort to wake up and see who was the one who opened the booths and alleviated some of the pain._

_"Wh-who are you?" the girl whispered. But, a hand covered her burned mouth which sent a shockwave of pain all through her and she had a gnawing sense of déjà vu at the feeling of the hand itself._

_"Shh!" the unknown prisoner whispered just as the girl passed out again._

_The prisoner also felt the same sense of déjà vu when he looked at the child that was lying there. The feeling was short-lived as the rafters fell next to him which shocked him out of his trance. He picked up both the girls and barrel carried them all the way to the exit. But, a rafter was going to fall and trap him in this fiery tomb. He barrel rolled through the door just as the rafters fell and blocked the exit. He only had a moment to catch his breath because the fire department was coming. He ran away to hide from what he thought were the guards coming to catch and most likely punish him._

_After the guards came they wondered how they got out of that death trap and who caused this incident. When she told them that it was an escaped prisoner they knew who it was. It wasn't long before they caught and questioned him which, as usual, ended with the poor man getting it tortured out of him. But, they got nothing out of him. When the girl finally woke up after two days, she looked a bit worse for wear, is unable to move due to the body cast, and she was blind as a bat from the damage the booths caused to her eyes. But, she desperately wanted to "see" her rescuer by using a technique she learned from a different world called seismic sense which allowed her to see by feeling vibrations around her to see shapes, sizes, predict attacks, and see even more precise things than she could with her regular sight. She just has trouble with projectiles and details when she uses this ability. _

_"I want to see my saviour." she demanded in a raspy, but masterful voice, "So I can find out what caused that unfortunate incident."_

_"He won't talk." the gruff guard told her._

_"It's probably because you weren't nice about it."_

_"Alright, I'll bring the freak in."_

_It wasn't long before she felt the strong presence of the prisoner and the gnawing sense of déjà vu. He sounded like he suffered by his heavy breathing and his posture was fairly weak. She felt his heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and calculated his movements. The girl could tell that this man hated guards with a passion by his fast-moving heart rate, growling, and his struggling when the guards dragged him in. But, when he saw her, everything slowed down and he seemed willing to speak. She still has to word her questions right and not make it feel like an interrogation._

_"Hello." the girl rasped, trying to sound friendly._

_The prisoner didn't speak for a couple of minutes, but he finally muttered, "What do you want from me?"_

_"I want nothing from you. I just want to have a talk with you." she rasped honestly, "I kinda like talking to the prisoners. Especially the new ones."_

_He seemed wary, but when he saw how honest she seemed he let his guard down just a bit and started talking to her, "Yeah, I can tell."_

_"You seem to be having lots of fun in the fortress." she said in sarcastic humor._

_"If you call getting beaten to a pulp, tortured into submission, and pumped full of Dark Eco nearly everyday fun. Then I am having a great time!" he growled with sarcasm dripping all over his words._

_"Well, you're an angry one." she smiled which surprised him, "You seem surprised."_

_"Most of those damn guards have no sense of humor!" he shouted, "I make one little joke, they take it seriously and I get covered in bruises!"_

_"They are a bit sensitive." she remarked._

_"SENSITIVE?!" he screamed in outrage, "They are nothing but a bunch of sadists twisted to kill or hurt anything they find suspicious!"_

_"You seem to hate the guards."_

_The man looked at her as though she's told him the understatement of the century. She decided to catch him before he starts ranting about the guards._

_"If you hate guards so much," the child pointed out, "then why did you save me?"_

_That stopped him cold and made him think about what he did that day. It made him wonder why he decided to save one of those people that he vowed to kill more than once._

_"I-I don't know." he muttered, "I think its... something about you that seemed... familiar."_

_That made her think about it and she realized that there is something familiar about this man that she can't place even though she can't see his face. She shook it off and had a talk with him that was, for the most part, easy enough because they were talking as though they knew each other for years. She found out that it was her stupid milkshake that caused the trouble and that the Underground is really laying the law to her and those with her. When the man saw that her damaged eyes were emerald-green and glowing slightly he tested a theory by way of a vial of Green Eco that he "borrowed" from the labs. _

_Before he poured it on her hand, he warned her, "This is raw Green Eco, kid. It might sting you a bit. But, it might help if I'm right about you." _

_She just nodded as he slowly poured it onto her badly burnt hand. The kid expected the raw Eco to sting her like mad. But instead, it felt as though all the overwhelming pain washed away from her body momentarily as if she was in a healing waterfall. She sighed with comfort as the skin on her hand grew back in a rather grotesque way. But, when the Eco's power ran out, her hand was nearly healed which amazed and astonished the young man. The girl smiled as the long-forgotten memories of her past came back like a tidal wave._

_"I forgot what I was capable of." she laughed in a rasp, "How could I forget? The talent of channeling Eco is almost as rare as a rucksack of Eco Ore."_

_The young man coughed slightly, obviously to disguise a laugh because it's true that such a talent was that rare because of the Baron stealing them off the streets the second he hears of them. Most of them died from Eco overdose and the channelers are approaching near extinction or they are just hidden far away from Haven City. Whatever the case may be, it was getting increasingly difficult to find new "participants" for the DWP._

_After the talk that managed to kill two hours, the girl wanted to reward the young man for saving her life. She rewards him by forbidding torture upon him and shortening his Dark Eco sentence to just two years. If he lives and shows no sign of change, he has to be granted a full pardon and set free. Most of the guards don't like the idea of rewarding a prisoner. But, due to the guards respecting and fearing her, they had no choice but to leave the prisoner alone and let his 'treatments' go as planned with no sort of punishing beatings._

_The extra crispy girls were sent to the hospital for severe burns. Amber had skin grafted onto her to replace the skin that burned off. The child, who the doctors just recently knew to be a channeler because of the young man telling the guards and the guards telling the doctors, had Green Eco poured on her which healed most of the damage to her skin. Her entire body was wrapped with bandages that are laced with Green Eco to heal the rest of the damage to her skin. They both recovered in a week and both of them never used a tanning booth ever again._

* * *

_**A Month Later:**  
_

_After the tanning fiasco, the girl was faced with death threats which she considered almost as dull as dishwater. One day, at a friend's house, she got another letter at the door. As she opened the red letter with the underground symbol she had to tell her curious friend who was a brunette, pale, brown-eyed, and about 16. Her name was Jamie Young. _

_"Who's it from?" she asked._

_"My old friends." the child answered a bit too sarcastically to be true and Jamie caught the sarcasm._

_"My mom always told me that this symbol on a red letter was a bad thing." she pointed out._

_"Not always. They love pushing the idle threats." the girl answered, "They've given me these for nearly a month now and I'm still here!"_

_Jamie looked concerned as the girl read the letter. She was smiling the whole time which looked a bit disconcerting. When she finished reading the letter she did the unthinkable: she laughed like she read the funniest joke in the world. Jamie decided to read it and see what the joke was. When she read the letter, it was terrifying. It ran this way:_

_"Dear Krimzon Brat,_

_We warned you about this matter for nearly a month now! We've seen what monstrous things you are capable of! We've even seen what kind of creature they've turned you into at the fortress in nearly a year! We should've killed you while we were sheltering you from the guards. You're a real danger to the Underground! We highly advise you to quit the guard now and join the Underground immediatly. If you don't follow our orders, you and your friends lives are going to get **real INTERESTING**!"_

_Jamie thought that it was a terrible threat to read in a letter. But, her insane friend was laughing about it like it was a big joke._

_"I don't see what's so funny." Jamie whimpered, "It looks like a horrible threat to come across."_

_The girl was still laughing like a hyena as Jamie voiced her opinions about the threat. When the child composed herself, she decided to explain herself about why the threat seems like a comedic act to her._

_"Apparently, you've never seen their death threats before." she explained, "I'm laughing because this little threat is tame compared to what I usually get from low-life criminals. You know, the kind of crooks that would push me in a pool of super-concentrated Dark Eco just to get rid of me!"_

_Jamie was shocked that her friend would simply throw all caution to the wind like that and laugh at death threats like they were mere chain letters. Also, she talked about it like it was a normal everyday conversation to her. Jamie finally came to terms that her friend was far from normal. Not because of her incredible powers or her strange looks. But, it was because of the way she reacts to life-threatening danger. She treats the concept like it was a regular thing for her._

_"You're **dangerous**!" Jamie shouted._

_"Yep, that's me in a nutshell." she joked_

_"You're **INSANE**!" Jamie screamed._

_"You just now realized that?!" she asked with confusion in her voice._

_Jamie realized that she won't get anywhere with her friend's questionable sanity. Her friend got a call from the guard about Metal Heads in the Pumping Station her friend was still shouting the unthinkable._

_"Metal Heads near the city, eh? How many?" the child inquired as a hushed voice was heard and she started shouting excitedly, "Yes! Finally! I've haven't had any excitement for almost a week now! Alright, I'll be there faster than you can say, 'Hurry up! My men are pinned down!'!"_

_Just as the kid started packing her modified weapons in her backpack, Jamie was asking all sorts of questions as her friend was packing. It was as if she was going on a long trip to the Wasteland._

_"Were you always this crazy about danger and risk?" Jamie asked._

_"No, not always." she answered, "In fact, I used to avoid both like the plague."_

_"Why not now?" Jamie inquired, "What changed that outlook on life?"_

_"I've been hanging around with the kind of people who decided that danger and risk is a part of their trade." she smirked, "Also, some of my best friends are thrill-seeking dare devils."_

_"Have you ever thought about choosing your friends a little more carefully?" Jamie asked._

_"Yes, I had thought about that." she answered, "But, I believe that everyone deserves a chance at friendship. Even to the criminals and the anti-heroes most of all."_

_"But, why to crooks and rogues most?" Jamie inquired._

_"Because these people need it most." she explained, "Criminals and anti-heroes are one of the most misunderstood people in the universe. Everyone thinks that they are bad from start to finish. But, I know that everyone has good inside and that they've been either hanging with the wrong crowd like most criminals or they just had a bad start in life like most anti-heroes. People need to learn to not judge people by what they do or by their friends or by their family. They just need to give them a chance because the amount of good they can do in life will surprise you."_

_"But, you can't just throw caution to the wind and make friends with those maniacs!" Jamie shouted._

_"I know that you can't give people who are too far gone into the crime bug a chance." she answered, "But, you can give those who still have good inside or those who are just confused a chance and even go as far as to turn them to the right direction. Everyone who just starts a life of crime or commits a single wrong in the name of justice always causes a spark of guilt and good in them. That's usually hardly worth anything and doesn't last long. But, if used in the right way, that spark of guilt and good is worth more than a king's ransom."_

_The girl's sagely advice left Jamie speechless as her friend finished packing her things and went to complete her mission to hold back the advancing Metal Heads._

* * *

"I see your point there, Benny." Randall admitted after Ben snapped out of his flashback, "She does tend to throw all caution to the wind and damn near get killed in the process. But, her reasoning as to why she does those things are so sound that she can make a clinically insane man seem perfectly normal."

Ben couldn't help, but laugh at what Randall told him because his friend is not **that** good at an argument. Then again, she did manage to talk a Dark dog out of a meat truck in his native tongue. It was a bit stupid of her because it was about the size of a Hellcat Cruiser. But, she did it in an attempt to help him capture it to see how it got that way.

Randall noticed one more thing that was peculiar about Ben: he wasn't wearing his glasses for his horrid astigmatism and his severe myopia! Without them he can't see a damn thing! Not even his hand in front of his face.

"Uhh, Ben." Randall asked curiously.

"Yes?" Ben huffed in frustration because he lost his place in the girl's story of when she was in the Underground before her time in prison.

"Why aren't you wearing your glasses?" Randall asked worriedly.

"You mean my specially made bifocals?" Ben inquired.

"Yes, your_ special_ bifocals! Why are you not wearing them?" Randy asked backing away and holding up three fingers, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Ben didn't even squint or lean forward like he usually would when he's not wearing his glasses. He just laid back and answered Randall's rather simple question.

"I can see your three fingers as clear as day and I've lost the need for my glasses for nearly three years now." Ben answered blatantly, "Whenever I put them on I can't see my hand in front of my face. But, when they are off, I can see so crisp and clear that it's almost inhuman."

"What caused that to happen?" Randall asked.

"Hmm, I don't remember at the moment." Ben explained, "But, I _do _remember that I just woke up one morning on the day that I had to study the girl's behavior with music. When I woke up, I could see as clear as day. I thought I fell asleep with my glasses on again which usually buffs or scratches them. But, they weren't on my eyes at all. I tried my glasses on to test my theory and it turns out that I can't see anything at all through the glasses."

"Why did you wear them when you went to work?!" Randy asked.

Ben thought about what he read in his book and he remembered what caused his horrible sight to clear up in the first place.

_"Apparently_ you are not very observant." Ben smiled, "Those glasses I use nowadays are just plastic and to make sure no one knows that my horrendous sight cleared up because of my Dark powers that has manifested in me since I just entered college."

"That's what caused your horrid sight to clear up?" Randall asked.

"Yes," Ben answered, nodding his head, "I just remembered reading that in a book after my sight cleared up on me."

"Why don't you want anyone knowing about that?" Randall questioned.

"I'm afraid they'll fear me and revile me as a monster if what I can do gets out." Ben muttered as if ashamed of his natural abilities.

"I can see what you mean." Randall murmured. "But, seriously, what caused you to lose the need for them?"

"All Dark Demons, DV's, Humanoids, and anything exposed to Dark Eco can see farther, sharper, and clearer than any creature known to man." Ben remembered, "Any two-bit Eco Sage would know that."

Randall was really starting to get concerned about his friend who was slowly losing his humanity over the years. Becoming stronger, faster, and inhumanly athletic was one thing. But, losing the need of his glasses for his horrendous sight, being able to speaking Dark Demon fluently, and physically changing bit by bit every now and again _really _drew the line that separates Randall from calling Ben either Elfan or a monster.

"I'm afraid for you." Randall murmured under his breath.

"See? Even you're starting to see me as a monster." Ben sighed looking very crestfallen.

"Ben, I said I was afraid _for_ you. Not _of _you!" Randall corrected.

"Oh, right." Ben muttered, "Sorry about that."

"You know," Randall pointed out to try to change the subject, "you look a lot like that kid without your glasses."

"Which kid?" Ben questioned.

"The one from the history books." Randall remembered, "The one who killed those two Dark Eco Sages who were in the Precursor Robot with his raw Eco powers alone and without _anyone _to back him up!"

"You mean warrior Jak?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, that guy!" Randall exclaimed, "You look _a lot _like him in the face."

"Yeah, I get that a lot from the girl." Ben murmured.

"Come to think of it," Randall muttered, "that new case of yours looks a lot like that guy from the books."

Ben thought about that for a moment and he realized that Randy's right which is a rare occasion. His new case looked almost exactly like the teen warrior from the history books. The kid had the same hair color, same eye color, same skin tone, same physique, and can channel all kinds of Eco. Even the kid's _name_ was Jak. But, he could've been named that because he looked a lot like him. What debunked _that _theory is the fact he could channel all kinds of Eco which none of his cases can do. Well, maybe except for the young girl who claims to have known the warrior personally and she even went as far as to claim that she was rigorously trained by the Eco warrior himself for almost a year. Ben didn't believe her at first and thought she was sick or insane. But, after seeing her sword that looked new and made in the ancient way, her dagger which was made with elements that are nonexistent here, her Eco bracelets that are fused to her wrists and ankles which is illegal in Haven City, and the way she fights was almost in the same style as the warrior himself he was beginning to believe her claims because of how accurate all of her claims and objects are.

"Yeah, he kinda does look like him." Ben answered, "Remind me to ask him a few questions the next time he comes around."

"Be careful Ben." Randall warned, "I've _seen _that guy's horrible temper and that he's quick to anger. I don't want you to get on his bad side."

"Don't worry about it." Ben chimed, "I know how to handle those kind of people. I've done it before with the girl when I questioned where she was from without making it feel like an interrogation."

Randall was still wary of Ben's newest case for some reason. He always felt an evil, dark aura around the young man from the moment he walked in. The aura was like a wall that makes people feel that it's not a good idea to meet and greet him. Randall feels that this guy may be a lost cause because of how much Dark Eco was in a single drop of his blood alone! Over 70% of that single drop of blood was contaminated by Dark Eco which made it close to impossible to determine his blood type! But, he can deny his boss any of his orders despite the fact that Ben is only twelve.

"Okay," Randall grumbled, "whatever you say, Benny."

Ben nodded while putting the last creature in its cage for study tomorrow. He looks at his watch and realizes it's time to go home. He put away his tools, chemicals, books, files, everything. Just before the duo went out the door, Ben took a good look at his lab before shutting down the power to it.

"Do you want me to escort you to your home?" Ben offered Randall.

"Uhh, err, umm, ehh..." Randall hesitated, "Sure, what doesn't kill me will only make me stronger."

"That's a... fairly odd look into that." Ben answered.

Randall looked a bit nervous about Ben escorting him home because he half expected Ben to grab him by his arm and run so fast that he could rival a jet plane just to drop him off at home which is a 45 minute walk in 4.5 seconds or less. But, he didn't use that power of his for some reason. Ben didn't even go as far as to _borrow _a two-seated zoomer to drive them home either. Whatever motive possessed Ben decided to make him walk the whole 45 minutes to Randall's home must've been important. Randall couldn't help, but to sigh with relief because being dragged home at the speed of a jet car really tears into his already frayed nerves. But, he had to ask why because it's very unusual for Ben to not speed run him home while dragging him along for the wild ride.

"Ben?" Randall inquired.

"Yes, Randy." Ben answered.

"Why aren't you speed running me home?" he asked.

"I think you meant blurring" Ben corrected.

"You get the idea!" Randall shouted, "Why aren't you doing that?! That used to be a regular thing with you! Why not now?!"

"I want to talk to you about the girl." Ben stated which made Randall stare at him in shock.

* * *

_Imagination Gamer: Looks like we're going to find out more about our mystery character. Sorry about the delay because I have two school projects to work on and my birthday's coming around. It's just hectic on my end._


End file.
